Tag Archives: recipes

A Sunday Filled With Muffins and Tacos is a Good Sunday…

9 Jan

I’ve had a first for the new year… I baked muffins!  That’s right – I don’t think I’ve ever baked muffins before.   Yesterday my friend Wendy came over and she was eating a delicious pumpkin muffin and there on the spot we got inspired and decided we were going to bake muffins.  I checked out my handy Cooks Illustrated: The Best New Recipe Cookbook (everything I make out of this cookbook comes out great – I highly recommend it!) and found a recipe for Cinnamon Sugar-Dipped Blueberry Muffins.  I had most of the ingredients on hand and off we went!

The blog Stylish Cuisine already outlined this blueberry muffin recipe here – but we made a few little tweaks out of necessity… and a sense of adventure.  

First, I only had shy of one cup of blueberries (I’ve been eating them with my cereal in the morning) – but I did have some blackberries… so we threw those in with the rest of my blueberries equaling about 1 1/2 cups of berries overall.

Then – I only had one cup of sour cream (the recipe calls for 1 1/4 cups), which I had bought for the tacos I was making for dinner).  Oh well… we threw that cup of sour cream in and then decided to add 1/4 of a cup of ricotta cheese, which I happened to have in my fridge from making turkey burgers the other night.  I figured – hey… it’s dairy, it’s yummy, I don’t want want it to go to waste – why not?

Well – I don’t know what these muffins would have tasted like without our little tweaks – but MAN – they came out DELICIOUS!  Oh – and when I went to get the ground cinnamon out of my pantry for the topping, I realized I didn’t have any.  But I did have some cinnamon sticks.  So I used my zester and made myself some freshly-ground cinnamon and wow… grating the cinnamon fresh like that is amazing!  It smelled SO good – much more intense than the usual store-bought ground cinnamon.

Here is a pic of one of our beautiful muffins… light and fluffy, perfectly moist, crumbly on top, with a nice coat of crunchy cinnamon sugar – YUM.

Cinnamon Sugar-Dipped Blueberry/Blackberry Muffin

 

Then came dinner.  One of our favorite dinners is TACO NIGHT!  I used to just buy those taco kits in the supermarket with the powdered seasoning mix and the taco shells – but after I looked at the ingredients on that seasoning packet I was determined to ditch the packet and do it up from scratch instead.  Here are the ingredients to the seasoning that comes in the box:

Maltodextrin, Salt, Chili Pepper, Onion Powder, Spice, Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), Corn Starch, Yellow Corn Flour, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil (otherwise known as Trans Fats), Silicon Dioxide (Anticaking Agent), Natural Flavor, Ethoxyquin (Preservative).

Bad news!!

So I found this recipe (I honestly don’t remember where I got it!) and scribbled it on a piece of paper and I’m telling you… it makes the most delicious tacos.  And now we’ve subbed lean ground turkey breast for ground beef and I actually feel like it’s a healthy meal (and we CRAVE it)!  Try it out… you won’t be disappointed!

  • 2 tsp vegetable oil (I typically use canola)
  • 1 small onion chopped fine
  • 3 garlic cloves minced (I often press them in the garlic press – easier)
  • 2 tbsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1/2 tsp oregano
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 lb. ground turkey breast (I use lean ground turkey breast raised without antibiotics)
  • 1/2 cup tomato sauce (I use Cento San Marzano Peeled Tomatoes) and squish them – it’s fun.
  • 1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth (I use organic)
  • 2 tsp cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp brown sugar

Directions:

  1. Heat oil over medium heat – add onion and cook until softened (stirring around so it doesn’t burn) – about five minutes
  2. Add garlic, chili powder, cumin, coriander, oregano, cayenne and salt and mix together with the onion.  Cook until fragrant (smells DELISH) – about a minute.
  3. Add turkey and break apart and cook until no longer pink – about 5 minutes
  4. Add tomato sauce, chicken broth, vinegar and brown sugar and bring to a simmer
  5. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered, stirring frequently until thick and no longer liquidy about 10 minutes

That’s it!  Now – measuring out the ingredients might take a few minutes… but when I put them all in little ramekins, I feel like a TV chef and it’s fun.  And then once everything’s measured, you just throw it all in the skillet and it’s done in no time.  And it’s so much more delicious – and you don’t get that super dehydrated feeling from all the salt and MSG and there’s no trans fats to make you fat and eventually give you heart disease!  Score.

Usually, I heat up a can of fat-free refried black beans and put together some toppings, which include:

  • sour cream
  • chopped up avocado
  • chopped tomatoes
  • shredded lettuce
  • shredded cheddar
  • salsa
  • Frank’s Red Hot 

This time, I had used up my sour cream and my avocado wasn’t ripe – so I skipped both of those and I must say – I didn’t really miss them.  I might continue to skip the sour cream in the future because it just adds extra fat (and I go full-fat with my sour cream because I hate the low-fat or fat-free – they taste nasty to me).

Oh – and finally, this time, we bought these amazing white corn tortillas from La Tortilla Factory brand and Adam heated up them up in a little oil (next time I want to try doing it without the oil).  They were the perfect vessel for our delicious fresh turkey tacos!

If you end up making either of these (muffins or tacos) – do tell me what you think!

Anyway – happy Monday everyone.  Looks like it’s going to be another fairly mild week in New York.  Yay.

xo

 

 

 

A Little Show & Tell…

11 Nov

Happy 11/11/11 everyone!  I’ve always thought of eleven as my lucky number – so according to my calculations, today should be a blockbuster day!  Anyway, while I was on hiatus from blogging, I was also busy working on some fun projects.  Back in May, we shot that music video for Jones Street Station with Danny Pudi.  Here is a dorky picture I posted from the shoot.  I don’t think I ever showed you the finished product though, so here it is!  I didn’t shoot video on this project – but all the stills peppered through the project are mine!  Enjoy.

In July I did a fun photo shoot with our friend Dave.  Here are some of my favorites:

He’s a sexy dude – right?  All of the photos were taken inside our new apartment or outside in the neighborhood – and all with natural light and my Rebel T2i (along with some killer L Series lenses).  It’s exciting how much great light we get in our new space!  I’m planning another photo shoot with my friend Yvonne in the next few weeks.  We’re going to experiment with a seamless white backdrop (never done that before) – should be interesting.

Then – in August I helped out my friend Zita with her own blog project.  She has embarked on a year-long vegetarian cooking endeavor, where every week for a year, she will cook one of her favorite vegetarian recipes for the camera, edit and then post the video to her blog – Unnecessary Sweetness.  It’s a LOT of work!!  Zita actually told me that one of the inspirations for this project was my 365 photo project – so of course, I was eager to help a blog sister out.  This video was one of her first and was shot in our kitchen.  I was one of two shooters and I was using the Canon EOS 7D.  Most of the close-up work you see is mine.  I find it really fun shooting close-ups on food and cooking!  (makes sense I suppose).  By the way – this hummus and the couscous were both totally fresh and super tasty!  I highly recommend trying them out.

And last but not least, in October I worked with a small Bodega team on a web video for Microsoft Internet Explorer.  Adam directed and I shot.  We did 90% of the shooting in our apartment – all with natural light.  It was a blast!  Here is the video… I am very proud of it.  And Microsoft totally loved it!

This type of filming is fun for me – because it’s really just like photography.  I set up the shot just like I would set up for a still photo – looking for the light and the best angle.  I’m not moving the camera  lot – although I have been practicing a bit with finding the focus in shot (you can see in that final shot of the sparklers).  I’m going to start watching movies that are known for outstanding cinematography so I can study up on different shooting styles.  I do have a fantasy that one day I’ll shoot one of Adam’s movies.

Anyway – that’s what I’ve been up to lately (among other things).  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend if I don’t talk to you before.

nell’s kitchen

7 Nov

So I told you already that I’m getting all ‘nesty’ lately right?  I’ve been doing lots of cooking and organizing and even a little baking.  Last week I set a personal record for myself.  I cooked five nights in a row.  I seriously don’t think I’ve ever done that.  In fact – from Sunday brunch to Friday lunch I didn’t eat one meal outside our home.  That’s honestly kind of a big deal for me.  I think part of this is stemming from being pregnant.  I’ve just felt sort of cozy at home lately and it’s been fun trying out new recipes and playing with all our new kitchen gear (wedding presents that spent nearly two years at my parents house in Massachusetts because of our previously teeny apartment).  Besides that – our new neighborhood (though completely pretty and awesome) is sort of lacking in delivery options.  Back in the East Village – we had our regular spots that we craved every week.  Delivery was quick, cheap and easy – and we had just about any type of food available to us nearly twenty-four hours a day.  Fort Greene definitely has some good restaurants – but the delivery scene just isn’t really doing it for me quite yet.  So Adam and I have started trying to recreate all our favorite restaurant cravings at home.  It’s become a fun little project for us.

Craving #1: Quality Pizza

It all started with pizza.  For my twenty-eighth birthday party, I hired my good friend (and pizza maker extraordinnaire) Mark Bello to help me put together a pizza and beer pairing party at Beer Table.  Mark has since opened his own pizza-making school in the Lower East Side called Pizza-a-Casa.  He is a pizza guru and all around foodie and I am oh so happy to have him in my life.  Anyway, I got hooked on the fun of making pizza, so I registered for a pizza stone and peel as shower gifts, but I didn’t really end up making much use out of them over the last couple years.  Then recently, I discovered frozen pizza dough from Fresh Direct.  They deliver the dough in four little balls to you frozen and you just thaw it out the night before you want to make a pizza.   Thanks to my work with Mark, I have all these recipes and ideas for yummy pizzas to make at home – so lately Adam and I have been on a pizza-making kick!  With a few simple ingredients: good quality fresh mozzerella, pizza sauce (been using Mario Batali’s jarred pizza sauce from Fresh Direct – but simple good quality San Marzano crushed tomatoes from a can will also do the trick), fresh basil (growing on my windowsill), thinly sliced sopressata picante and a little freshly grated Pecorino Romano for a finishing touch (especially over the crust) and there you have it – a restaurant-worthy, super yummy pizza.  Plus – making it at home is so much fun!

Meanwhile, Adam got inspired by a breakfast pizza recipe he found on Smitten Kitchen, so he adapted it to our liking and it has since become our new favorite breakfast treat.  Last weekend (and the weekend before), we invited over friends and made breakfast pizzas – topped with scallions, chives, garlic, bacon, some ricotta, fresh mozz and then finished with eggs and some fresh-grated parm.  Stupendous!  Here is a picture of one of Adam’s specialty breakfast pies:

Adam's Breakfast Pizza

The eggs on this one were a little over-cooked… it’s more delicious when the yolks break and run over the pie – but you get the idea.  Isn’t it pretty?

Craving #2:  Indian Food

I often get a craving for super flavorful, creamy, spicy, saucy Indian food.  However the Indian delivery in this neighborhood has left me rather cold.  I mentioned in a previous post how I picked up some Indian spices recently so the other night, with my friend Robyn coming over for dinner, I decided to make an Indian menu.  I used a Cooks Illustrated recipe for Chicken Tikka Masala and a recipe for Matar Makhani – Green Peas with Creamy Sauce from Madhur Jaffrey’s Quick & Easy Indian Cooking book.  Alongside I made a simple basmati rice to soak up the yummy sauces.

Well – I must admit that the preparation for this meal took me quite a while (overall prep and cooking time was about three hours!) – however, it was SO worth it!  The flavors were incredible!  And it was rather pleasing measuring out all the beautifully colored spices and ingredients into my little ramekins (you know I have a love for ramekins).  These were the measured out ingredients for the peas… I had even more measured out for the chicken!

Ramekins a plenty

This meal totally rocked!  Here is a photo of the finished dish (with peas on the side):

Chicken Tikka Masala & Green Peas with Creamy Sauce

Robyn showed off her fancy rice presentation skills by using a ramekin to shape the rice and sprinkling a little cilantro on top – another win for ramekins. :)

Chicken Tikka Masala with Basmati Rice

Craving #3: Turkey Burgers

When we lived in the East Village, we’d order from Westville almost every Sunday.  We loved the turkey burgers there  - though the turkey burgers from Zaitzeff also became a go-to for variety.  We’d both order turkey burgers with cheddar cheese, fries and then a side of hot buffalo sauce for dipping!  Now that we don’t have Westville or Zaitzeff around, I’ve started making weekly turkey burgers at home and I must say – I am beginning to master the recipe and they have now become just as satisfying as our favorite delivery burgers.  I once again use a Cooks Illustrated Recipe from the Light cookbook!  Instead of 93% lean turkey meat – I usually just buy ground turkey breast from the farmer’s market and keep it in the freezer until the night before I’m ready to cook the burgers.  Turkey breast can get dry – but this Cooks Illustrated recipe adds in ricotta cheese (use part-skim to make it lighter), which makes these burgers juicy and moist!  I add shredded cheese to each burger for the last five minutes of cooking, which melts the cheese perfectly – and I often serve these burgers on Bay’s Multi-Grain English Muffins.  Now we just need to figure out a hot sauce that completes the dish… I’ve heard Franks or Crystal tastes the most like buffalo sauce.  I’ll keep you posted on that.

(Sorry – no pictures of the turkey burgers just yet – but I’ll be sure to take one the next time I make them).

Meanwhile, other cravings on our list include:

  • Thai – I’d like to master a yummy Pad Thai recipe along with a curry (perhaps Masaman?).
  • Ramen – we sorely miss our visits to Minca in the East Village and are interested in trying out Ramen at home!
  • Mexican – I’d love to make Huevos Rancheros and Chilequiles Verdes
Oh – and I’ve decided, with so much cooking going on lately I should get an awesome “nell’s kitchen” sign made to hang up in our kitchen.  Right?  That thought makes me happy.

Fab Dinner, Mediocre Balls.

20 Apr

Yes, sadly the matzo balls didn’t come out so hot last night!  I’m convinced it was because I used this other brand of matzo meal.  I followed the same recipe I always use – but I usually use Streit’s or Manischewitz – this time I used some organic Israeli brand I picked up at Whole Foods.  Big mistake.  They didn’t turn out as light and fluffy as they normally do.  Everyone was kind – they all said they like their balls denser and slightly chewy (yes, we had a rather comical conversation over dinner about how we prefer our balls).  The denser style seems to have a nostalgia factor – I guess mothers have been screwing up matzo balls for decades. :)

Anyway, other than the matzo balls, our meal was fantastic!  Amie made the most incredible roast chicken I’ve ever had.  The recipe came from the book A Bird in the Oven and Then Some by Mindy Fox.

A Bird in the Oven and Then Some - by Mindy Fox

It was a roast chicken with green olives, fennel seeds and thyme.  It was incredibly flavorful!  I don’t usually like recipes that use olives (even though I love olives), I think the olive flavor tends to overwhelm – but this was PERFECTION!  I’m totally buying the book.  It has a bunch of different roast chicken recipes, along with recipes for sides and then finally – recipes for meals to make with your leftover roast chicken.  Brilliant.

Amie also made a side dish from the book – warm snow peas with sea salt and olive oil – totally delish!  You flash-boil the snow peas for two minutes until they turn this gorgeous bright green and that’s it!  Crisp, fresh and sweet… drizzle a little good olive oil on top and a sprinkle of sea salt and you’re good to go.  I made some roasted butternut squash with butter and brown sugar and then I threw some Shitake mushrooms in the oven with some garlic, olive oil and sea salt and roasted them up and they were spectacular – super meaty and full of flavor!  I’m having a new love affair with mushrooms lately.  I’m obsessed.  And Adam used to hate mushrooms, but now that I’ve been cooking them up all yummy, he’s a fan too.

So, the bad news is, I was so concerned with finishing up my dishes and getting them to the table, that I completely forgot to take pictures before everyone started chowing down (it might have been the wine too)!  We realized when we were about three-quarters into the meal.  So I have ZERO pictures of the food.  I didn’t think you’d want to see a photo of our picked over roast chicken – right?  Oh well.  Next time!  I did however take funny pictures of Adam and Brett (Amie’s brother).  People always say they look alike.  So we did a test:

Adam.

Brett.

Funny right?

Photo 213 – Tree in Amber Light

9 Nov

"Tree in Amber Light" - Settings: ISO 100, f/1.8, 1/160 sec, 50mm lens

Well… this was another late-night forced to get creative shot… though there’s a few things I really like about it.   First, the subject matter makes me happy.  This tree is a little piece of art I got on a Father’s Day weekend several years ago in Woodstock.  I had just gone through a bad breakup and I had just moved into my very first apartment living ALONE!  I was blue – but excited about my apartment, so my mom took me shopping for cute things to spruce up the place.  We found this great little home decor and gift shop in Woodstock and we bought a bunch of adorable things.  The owner of the store was so nice and he threw this little tree in for free with the rest of my purchases.  I still have all those things we bought from that shop, hanging up in our apartment now and it all brings me back to that day shopping with my mom – and how she took care of me and wanted to cheer me up.

As for the photo, I just held the little tree from the top with my left hand in front of our cloth lampshade.  I thought it would look cool to have the silhouette of the tree with light coming from behind through the stones.  I also thought the color of the lampshade was a nice compliment to the amber color of the stones themselves.  I really like how the texture of the lampshade looks – especially through the big stone on the bottom (sort of warped and magnified).  I also like how in the background, the reflection of the lampshade in the mirror on the wall echoes the amber color as well – but I like how it’s blurred – so it’s just really an additional accent of that same color without being a distraction.  It almost looks like another lamp in the distance.

Now I’m going to go make dinner.  I’m making an Andrew Weil recipe because I’m trying to be healthy after all that heavy food we ate over the weekend!  Tuna en papillote (in little parchment paper envelopes)… I marinated the tuna in soy, ginger, lime juice and chopped jalepeno (seeds removed).  The recipe called for cilantro as well – but Adam hates it so I left it out.  Then you put the tuna in the parchment envelopes on top of a little bed of chopped spinach, thin-sliced red onion, orange rind zest, red peppers sliced thin and a little grated ginger…  and serve with a lemon slice.  I’m also going to serve some brown rice alongside. I hope it’s good because I’m hungry!!!

Photo 199 out of 365 – “Retro Rose”

26 Oct

Retro Rose

I took this photo yesterday with my cellphone “Retro” camera.  The app comes with a choice of four different cameras – this one is the Barbl option.  I decided to go out for a run… because with all this eating I do – I figured it’s time to start exercising more.  I hadn’t taken my photo of the day yet – but I can’t run with my big Canon – so I carried my phone with me instead.  I am actually pleased with the results.  It’s rather pretty I think.

Anyway, last night’s chicken was delish.  I just love that marsala sauce – with the mushrooms and the deep flavors that come from the wine and the little bit of bacon!  Yummmmm.  For real – I can eat it like SOUP!  Is that wrong?  I made it with a side of green beans (boiled until tender) with toasted almond slivers and just a touch of butter and lemon juice.  And I also had rice – good for soaking up that sauce!

Tonight I’m going to make those little mini turkey meatballs again from Giada… it was a recipe I’ve referenced here before.  They were wonderful and I’m in the mood for a little Italian flave.  I got some wonderful pasta from a company called Rustichella d’abruzzo.  The shape is called bucatini, which is long and thin, like spaghetti – but more tubular… they actually have a tiny hole in the middle – you can blow through it like a straw.  This gives the pasta more body than regular spaghetti… it has a nice chew to it. I’m rather fond of it myself.  I’m going to serve the mini meatballs with fresh tomato sauce, a little bucatini and a nice healthy salad!  Of course with a little grated Parmigiano Reggiano to top it all off!  No meal in this house is complete without at least a little cheese!

Dentists, Cheese and Brooklyn

25 Oct

And here we are… it’s Monday again.  Really – the weeks are just flying by lately.  Before you know it, it’ll be Thanksgiving and then Christmas and New Year’s, and then I’ll turn thirty-two.  Crazy.

Meanwhile, I’ve had a very Brooklyn-centric few days, which is good – because I’m doing some research for which neighborhoods we might be interested in moving to next summer.  Last Thursday, I stopped by Brooklyn Victory Garden to drop off the last of my photo show materials and I decided to take a nice long walk through Clinton Hill, Fort Greene and then into downtown Brooklyn before heading home.  I was amazed at all the beautiful residential buildings in Clinton Hill.  It’s fun wandering around and discovering the beauty and character of each of the different Brooklyn neighborhoods.  Photo 195 was taken in Clinton Hill… I wish I looked to see what building this is – unfortunately, I didn’t!  But it was gorgeous!  I also sort of messed up with my camera settings.  I probably had the ISO all the way up to 6400 from shooting previously in a darker setting and I forgot to change it – if I were to take this photo again, I’d use a much lower ISO. Using the high ISO setting creates that grainy quality that you can see here.  I actually think it works with this photo (looks like a newspaper print or something) – but it was an accident!

Photo 195 out of 365 – “Columns”

"Columns" - Settings: ISO 6400, f/11, 1/3200 sec, 50mm lens

On Friday I spent another three hours at the dentist.  I’m in the process of having some major dental work done and have seriously logged probably fifty or more hours at the dentist since before our wedding last October.  It’s pretty intense.  But I’m almost done and the finished product should be fabulous and well worth all the trouble.  My dentist visit inspired photo 196 – a nice close-up self-portrait of me looking not so happy.  Ouch.

Photo 196 out of 365 – “Another Trip to the Dentist”

"Back in the Dentist Chair" - Settings: ISO 100, f/2.8, 1/60 sec, 50mm lens

On the way home from the dentist, I stopped at Barnes & Noble to look for a good recipe for dinner.  I had an entire head of broccoli and I wanted to do something with it so I found a recipe for Broccoli Cheddar soup in the Cooks Country Cookbook.  I wrote the recipe down on the back of my magazine and headed down to the subway.  On the F train, I was sitting there, listening to my ipod – wondering if I indeed looked as funny as I felt like I looked (major novocaine action – mouth totally numb).  Then this guy got on the subway – he was super preppy and was wearing these corduroy pants with little dogs on them.

"Dog Pants" - Settings: ISO 1600, f/2.5, 1/40 sec, 50mm lens

I thought the pants were pretty amusing… I always think that style is funny – is it Nantucket style?  With little flamingos or lobsters, or in this case… dogs?  I don’t know – I looked up and there was this kind of thuggy guy sitting across from me on the train and he was staring at the guy’s pants too.  Then we looked at each other and both giggled… but my mouth was so messed up from the novocaine, that I felt like my smile was all crooked and stupid-looking.  I was embarrassed.  I wanted to explain that I had novocaine mouth – but honestly… who really cares?  He got off at the next stop.  But it was a funny moment.

On the way home I had to get butter and cream for the broccoli cheddar soup so I stopped by Saxelby’s at the Essex Market.  They had organic fresh local butter on the menu – YUM – so I asked for some of that.  Turned out – they had to cut it fresh from a ten-pound block.  Great photo op!  I had never seen butter in a ten-pound block before – drool.  Here is my favorite shot from the butter-cutting session:

"Butter" - Settings: ISO 1600, f/4, 1/80 sec, 50mm lens

The soup came out quite delicious!  And I was happy because we ate an entire head of broccoli between the two of us over the course of Friday and Saturday.  I served the soup with some toasted fresh baguette for dipping and had some bites of dark chocolate for dessert.

On Saturday, we took a trip to Clinton Hill again to check out Brooklyn Victory Garden on opening day!  It was super exciting – my photos look fantastic and I’m really proud of myself for actually getting it all done!  And the store is so adorable.  Tess, the owner, has such a distinct style and has decorated the store with such charm and character.  I so admire her bravery in opening her own business.  So much time and energy and work goes into something like that and I just think it rocks to have the balls to go out and do it!  She’s a total inspiration!   Photo 197 is Tess… in her new shop… on opening day.  Congrats Tess!  I was happy to be her very first customer and took home some Cabot Clothbound Cheddar, fresh local eggs, amazing thick-cut bacon and a container of Salvatore Bklyn Ricotta, which basically tastes like a mixture of butter and ricotta.  Ridic.

Photo 197 out of 365 – “Opening Day”

“Opening Day” – Settings: ISO 800, f/5, 1/60 sec, 50mm lens

On Sunday we really just chilled at home – Adam’s previously-mentioned rib injury took a turn for the worse and he was in major pain for most of Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday.  I was contemplating a trip to the emergency room, but we decided he should just take it easy and see if the pain subsided with rest, which fortunately, it has.

In the early evening, I left him at home – lying on the couch and recouperating and I headed to Brooklyn once again for Jess’s birthday drinks!  We went to Floyd – on Atlantic Avenue, which was a cool spot with a Bocce court.  Anyway – here is photo 198, taken at Floyd.

Photo 198 out of 365 – Birthday Drinks at Floyd

"Birthday Drinks at Floyd" - Settings: ISO 6400, f/2.8, 1/30 sec, 50mm lens

Tonight I’m using the rest of my bacon in a delicious Chicken Marsala recipe from Cooks Illustrated.  I love this recipe – it comes out quite sophisticated and the sauce is wonderful over rice!  This dish actually made Adam like mushrooms – which he hated when we first met.  The recipe calls for pancetta, but I have bacon in my house more often then pancetta and I think the substitution works just fine.  Here is the recipe – try it out!  You will be pleased with the results… I promise!

 

Cooks Illustrated Chicken Marsala for Two

1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (6 to 8 ounces each), trimmed, pounded, and patted dry with paper towels
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/2 ounces pancetta (2 to 4 slices), cut into pieces 1 inch long and 1/8 inch wide
4 ounces white mushrooms , sliced (about 1 cup)
1 small clove garlic , minced (about 1/2 teaspoon)
1/2 teaspoon tomato paste
3/4 cup marsala wine (sweet)
2 teaspoons lemon juice from 1 lemon
2 tablespoons unsalted butter , cut into 2 pieces, softened
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position, set large heatproof plate on rack, and heat oven to 200 degrees. Place flour in shallow dish. Season chicken with salt and pepper; working one piece at a time, coat both sides with flour.
  2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in heavy-bottomed, 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Cook chicken until golden brown on first side, 2 to 3 minutes. Add remaining oil and using tongs, flip chicken; continue to cook until meat feels firm when pressed gently and second side is golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes longer. Transfer chicken to heated plate and return plate to oven.
  3. Return skillet to low heat and add pancetta; cook, stirring occasionally and scraping pan bottom to loosen browned bits, until pancetta is brown and crisp, about 2 to 3 minutes. With slotted spoon, transfer pancetta to paper towel-lined plate. Add mushrooms and increase heat to medium; cook, stirring occasionally and scraping pan bottom, until liquid released by mushrooms evaporates and mushrooms begin to brown, about 4 to 6 minutes. Add garlic, tomato paste, and cooked pancetta; cook while stirring until tomato paste begins to brown, about 1 minute.
  4. Off heat, add Marsala; return pan to medium heat and simmer vigorously, scraping browned bits from pan bottom, until mushroom sauce is slightly syrupy and reduced to about 2/3 cup, about 4 minutes. Off heat, add lemon juice and any accumulated juices from chicken; whisk in butter 1 tablespoon at a time. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and stir in parsley. Pour sauce over chicken and serve immediately.

That’s all for today!  See you tomorrow. :)

Photo 113 out of 365 – “Apricot Bites”

2 Aug

Settings: ISO 800, f/2.5, 1/160 sec, 50mm lens

This is one of the hors d’oeuvres we made for Faye’s shower.  It was a recipe that my friend Steph found – Apricot halves filled with a blue brie/cream cheese mixture, topped with a fresh basil leaf and a couple toasted pine nuts.  It was tasty – and very beautiful I thought.  I would totally make them again – but I’d get a better cheese to start – maybe Gorgonzola Dolce – sweet & mild – and skip the cream cheese.  Yum.

Photo 100 out of 365 – “Jake”

19 Jul

Settings: ISO 400, f/8, 1/100 sec, 200mm lens

Since I missed posting yesterday I’m posting twice today and… drumroll please… here we are… my one hundredth photo of the day!   I can’t believe how quickly time is going!   This here is a photo of Jake. Jake is Mark & Julie’s gorgeous and utterly charming son who we had the pleasure of hanging out with this weekend.  I love taking pictures of children.  They tend to be much less shy and self conscious than most adults.  And they’re so beautiful and honest and have such a sparkle.  Isn’t he beautiful?

Anyway, the other day, I went up on the roof of our apartment building to take pictures and I ran into a woman who lives downstairs from me. Turns out, she is a totally self-taught photographer… started seven years ago, and now runs her own successful photography business!  She does mostly portraits of newborns and young children, as well as weddings.   She was extremely nice and super willing to talk with me and answer all my hundreds of questions.  She actually taught herself Photoshop using the online tutoring service Lynda.com that I just subscribed to last week!   Lynda.com offers high quality online video tutorials covering a gazillion different software applications.  I’ve already started up with a Photoshop beginner course and a WordPress tutorial – you have to pay a monthly fee ($25/month for access to all the videos you want and $37/month for access to all of the files they use in the tutorials so you can follow along on your own computer).  It seems like a pretty awesome service so far, seeing as Photoshop classes are QUITE expensive!  I just have to take advantage of it throughout the month to get my money’s worth!   Anyway – meeting her gave me a little boost of inspiration.   I looked at her work and she seems very talented – and she said I can call her anytime for a chat or get together!  Very cool.

Oh – and PS… I made a ridiculously delicious recipe tonight – mini turkey meatballs with a homemade marinara sauce.  It is from Giada De Laurentiis and it was OFF THE HOOK!!!

Photo 89 out of 365 – “Heat Wave”

8 Jul

Yesterday I had a new challenge.  Adam needed to take the camera to work with him.  I figured I’d just wait for him to get home and then spend some time in the evening taking shots.  However, I walked outside my apartment at around 5:30pm to go grocery shopping and I stumbled upon this scene.  My first thought was “Crap!!  I so need my camera for this!”  Then I remembered my new Droid cell phone (I finally upgraded from my little dinky flip phone).  So I snapped a few shots with my phone cam.  This is one of them!  I am so happy with it I can’t believe how pretty it looks for a cell phone photo – check out that lens flare!  It just goes to show… you don’t necessarily need fancy, expensive equipment to make pretty pictures.  (I did use Adobe  Lightroom to edit a bit after the fact – I sharpened the photo a little and increased the contrast to emphasize that bright glow of the sun & the water spray.)  Adam had to take the camera again today – so I’m armed with my cell for photo ops until he gets home.

Last night I made a nice simple dinner – another recipe from my new favorite… Ina Garten (AKA “Barefoot Contessa”).  This time I made parmesan chicken over a bed of arugula with lemon vinaigrette and shaved parmesan.  It was SUPER fast and easy – from prep to serving I’d say it took about 35 minutes.  I loved the arugula with the lemon vinaigrette.  Making salad dressings is one of my favorite things.  Once I started making my own instead of buying, I’ve never gone back.  It’s so easy – all you need is some olive oil, some seasonings and some acid or vinegar – then you can totally improvise.  Salad dressings are one of the things I feel comfortable experimenting with at this point.  I still consider myself to be somewhat of a novice when it comes to cooking (or whatever comes next after novice… intermediate?) – so I depend heavily on recipes for the most part – but with salad dressings I let loose and have a little fun.

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 103 other followers